Reducing Underwater-Slide Impact Forces on Pipelines by Streamlining
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 2
Abstract
Results are presented from experiments and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations involving the streamlining of suspended underwater pipelines or structures subject to impacts from sediment/water mixtures. The experiments showed that a considerable reduction in force may be achieved by streamlining, and this reduction in force is most significant at lower Reynolds numbers. Several shapes were tested: round, airfoil, and wedge. Of these, the wedge exhibited the lowest drag coefficient—about one-fifth of the cylindrical pipe at low values of the Reynolds number, and about half at higher Reynolds numbers.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
Several students at USMMA were very helpful in performing this work, in particular Midshipmen Evan Kilpatrick, Matthew Faulks, Alex Osigian, Jackie Bernat, Christopher Frobenius, and Frank Hlatky. The author is also very grateful to Dr. Yvonne Traynham and Dr. Nagy Hussein for their insight and helpful suggestions throughout this study. Grateful thanks are also expressed to Mr. Don Gill, Ms. Marion Brazeil, and Ms. Alexis Ramos of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy for their continuing support.
References
Anderson, J. (1991). Fundamentals of aerodynamics, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Audibert, J. M. E., Nyman, D. J., and O’Rourke, T. D. (1984). “Differential ground movement effects on buried pipelines.” Guidelines for the seismic design of oil and gas pipeline systems, ASCE, Reston, VA, 150–183.
Bea, R. G., and Aurora, R. (1982). “Design of pipelines in mudslide areas.” Proc., 14th Annual Offshore Technology Conf. (OTC), Houston, 401–414.
Bruschi, R., Bughi, S., Spinazze, M., Torselletti, E., and Vitali, L. (2006). “Impact of debris flows and turbidity currents on seafloor structures.” Nor. J. Geol., 86, 317–337.
Calvetti, F., di Prisco, C., and Nova, R. (2004). “Experimental and numerical analysis of soil-pipe interaction.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 130(12), 1292–1299.
Chehata, D., Zenit, R., and Wassgren, C. R. (2003). “Dense granular flow around an immersed cylinder.” Phys. Fluids, 15(6), 1622–1631.
Demars, K. R. (1978). “Design of marine pipelines for areas of unstable sediment.” Transp. Engrg. J., 104(1), 109–112.
Fine, et al. (2005). “The grand banks landslide-generated tsunami of November 18, 1929: Preliminary analysis and numerical modeling.” Mar. Geol., 215(1–2), 45–57.
Fritz, H. M., Hager, W. H., and Minor, H.-E. (2003a). “Landslide generated impulse waves: Part 1: Instantaneous flow fields.” Exp. Fluids, 35(6), 505–519.
Fritz, H. M., Hager, W. H., and Minor, H.-E. (2003b). “Landslide generated impulse waves: Part 2: Hydrodynamic impact craters.” Exp. Fluids, 35(6), 520–532.
Fritz, H. M., Hager, W. H., and Minor, H.-E. (2004). “Near field characteristics of landslide generated impulse waves.” J. Waterway, Port, Coastal, Ocean Eng., 130(6), 287–302.
Hampton, M. A., Lee, H. J., and Locat, J. (1996). “Submarine landslides.” Rev. Geophys., 34(1), 33–59.
Hance, J. J. (2003). “Development of a database and assessment of seafloor slope stability based on published literature.” M.S. thesis, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
Heezen, B. C. (1956). “The origin of submarine canyons.” Sci. Am., 195(2), 36–41.
Heezen, B. C., and Ewing, M. (1955). “Orléansville earthquake and turbidity currents.” AAPG Bull., 39(12), 2505–2514.
Krause, D. C., White, D. J., Piper, W., and Heezen, B. C. (1970). “Turbidity currents and cable breaks in the western new Britain trench.” Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 81(7), 2153–2160.
Mohammed, F., and Fritz, H. M. (2010). “Experiments on tsunamis generated by 3D granular landslides.” Submarine mass movements and their consequences, advances in natural and technological hazards research, D. C. Mosher et al., eds., Vol. 28, Springer, New York, 705–718.
Niedoroda, A. et al. (2000a). “Developing engineering design criteria for deepwater turbidity currents.” Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Conf., New Orleans.
Niedoroda, A., Reed, C., Parson, B., Breza, J., Forristal, G., and Mullee, J. (2000b). “Developing engineering design criteria for mass gravity flows in deep sea slope environments.” Offshore Technology Conf., Houston.
Olsen, N. (2006). “A three-dimensional numerical model for simulation of sediment movements in water intakes with multi-block option—User’s manual.” Dept. of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Norwegian Univ. of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Pazwash, H., and Robertson, J. M. (1975). “Forces on bodies in Bingham fluids.” J. Hydraul. Res., 13(1), 35–55.
Perez, S. (2010). “CFD modeling of turbidity current deposition.” J. Mar. Sci. Appl., 9(1), 42–47.
Pfeiff, C. F., and Hopfinger, E. J. (1986). “Drag on cylinders moving through suspensions with high solid concentration.” PCH, PhysicoChem. Hydrodyn., 7(none), 101–109.
Reed, C., Niedoroda, A., Parson, B., Breza, J., Mullee, J., and Forristal, G. (2000). “Analysis of deepwater flows, mud flows and turbidity currents for speed and recurrence rates.” Deepwater Pipeline and Riser Technology Conf., Houston.
SSIIM [Computer software]. Norwegian Univ. of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, 〈http://folk.ntnu.no/nilsol/cfd/〉.
Summers, P. B., and Nyman, D. J. (1985). “An approximate procedure for assessing the effects of mudslides on offshore pipelines.” J. Energy Resour. Technol., 107(4), 426–432.
Swanson, R. C., and Jones, W. T. (1982). “Mudslide effects on offshore pipelines.” Transp. Engrg. J., 108(6), 585–600.
Vanoni, V. (2006). “Sedimentation engineering.” Manual No. 54, ASCE, Reston, VA.
White, F. W. (1994). Fluid mechanics, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Zakeri, A., Hoeg, K., and Nadim, F. (2008). “Submarine debris flow impact on pipelines—Part 1: Experimental investigation.” Coastal Eng., 55(12), 1209–1218.
Zakeri, A., Hoeg, K., and Nadim, F. (2009). “Submarine debris flow impact on pipelines—Part 2: Numerical analysis.” Coastal Eng., 56(1), 1–10.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 2 • March 2012
Pages: 142 - 148
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 2, 2011
Accepted: Jul 12, 2011
Published online: Jul 14, 2011
Published in print: Mar 1, 2012
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.